exsecutus | inbox.

From:

I think it's shit. At best, a distraction. At worst, a decision that will have great bearing over too many lives.

[Surprise, surprise.]

And yourself?

From:

rathercommon

Mm.

[ She's quiet a moment. ]

I suppose - that it's quite rotten that this is a decision that the people don't get to make. Why's it worse if it's an important decision?

From:

exsecutus

The Chantry has now too much authority over the minds and choices that the people of Thedas make. And as you have noticed, the people who will be most affected by the choice have little to nothing to do with it. They are voiceless and without representation in an election that will establish a foundation, a bedrock upon which they will continue to be bent over and fucked.

There are few willing to take risks, whose ambition is for the people and not for personal gain and power.

From:

rathercommon

Few?

[ Not all? ]

From:

exsecutus

I'm feeling optimistic.

From:

rathercommon

That's rare. Which ones d'you like?

From:

exsecutus

Elise of Ayesleigh. The only one of them who has been consistent enough to bother with.

From:

rathercommon

Yeah? What I've heard most people talking about when they talk about her is how old she is.

From:

exsecutus

And all those years she has managed to maintain a consistent record of pushing for reform. Dramatic reform. The sort that might make a change for those whose lives will be affected mostly deeply by this vote.

If someone has a moderate agenda, and gets a fight in answer to action they attempt to take, they might be willing to take a compromise. Who's to say that compromise will be aggressive enough? I would put my money behind someone who is used to a fight, who has not made significant compromises in the name of her own ambition.

From:

rathercommon

[ Thoughtfully - ]

Yeah. And she's old enough that she probably knows that she'll die fairly soon, so she probably hasn't got much interest in accumulating a lot of power.

From:

exsecutus

Which is also being used against her. As if it is so terrible a thing, to have someone in power who will not be in power for the next hundred years. We should strive to impose such limits.

And yet we'll see the weak pouring out in droves to support a woman of clear ambition.

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rathercommon

Which one?

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exsecutus

Agathe of Cumberland, of course.

From:

rathercommon

Really? But - she doesn't seem so bad.

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exsecutus

In some ways, she isn't. But we settle then for mediocrity. For the watered-down version of truer and stronger ideals and intentions. And her ambition, which she has never disguised, means that she will compromise what strong intentions she does have, so that she can get what she wants.

If the Chantry expects to lead the people it should give a shit about the people. All of them. And that should not be compromised.

From:

rathercommon

[ Argument for argument's sake: ]

But if it's a choice between mediocrity and awfulness, oughtn't you choose the former? Elise hasn't got much of a chance, from the sound of it.

From:

exsecutus

Mediocrity changes nothing. Complacency is a softer awfulness. One that can be ignored. It is not so bad. And because it is not so bad, that is where it will always stay.

From:

rathercommon

And is that so bad, for the Divine? I mean, she's basically just some priest, right?

From:

exsecutus

The Divine can change doctrine. Her interpretation of texts and the precedents that she could set could change everything for the disenfranchised. For mages, for dwarves, qunari--elves--Rifters, if you will be motivated to care out of self-interest--the poor, of all races and types.

Whatever I think of the Chantry, and I think very fucking little of it--I would still have to admit its power. However ill-deserved it might be.

I would rather the seat be taken by someone truly controversial. For better or for worse.

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rathercommon

For worse? Why? So people would lose faith in it?

From:

exsecutus

Or rebel against it. Or both, ideally, a loss of faith leading to a rebellion. If we allow ourselves a dream of idealism.

I would see that type of election stopped before it reached that point.

From:

rathercommon

So you don't want to see that sort of violence?

From:

exsecutus

Of course I fucking do. But I don't trust that the violence would turn to anything productive or come to any end other than a return to normalcy. People lose their stomachs too easily. They let themselves be cowed and soothed even to their detriment.

Do you?